Alain Delon, French movie legend, dies at 88

Alain Delon, the French actor, producer and writer whose cool, enigmatic beauty made him an international sex symbol, has died at the age of 88.

“He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family,” a family statement released to the AFP news agency said. Delon had been battling poor health in recent years and suffered a stroke in 2019.

French President Emmanuel Macron led tributes to the actor. “Melancholic, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: a French monument,” Macron said.

Delon will be remembered as an icon of French and European cinema, who worked with a host of celebrated directors. But he has been criticized for his controversial political views and attitude towards women. Feminists were aghast when he was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or late in his life.

Delon receives his honorary Palme d’Or Award at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 19, 2019. Stephane Mahe/Reuters

Born in Sceaux, a suburb south of Paris, Delon had a turbulent childhood marked by his parents’ divorce and frequent expulsions from school, before serving in the French Navy and later taking on odd jobs in Paris.

He made his first appearance on film in 1957, playing a hitman in the thriller “Quand la femme s’en mêle,” titled “Send a Woman When the Devil Fails” in English.

This was to be the first of many anti-hero roles for Delon, who went on to become a major figure in European film in the 1960s, working with such lauded directors as René Clément (“Plein Soleil,” 1960, titled “Purple Noon” in the United States), Luchino Visconti (“Rocco and his Brothers,” 1960, and “The Leopard,” 1963) and Jean-Pierre Melville (“Le Samouraï,” 1967).

In 1968, Delon was caught up in a sex, drug and murder scandal involving French high society, known as the Markovic affair. He was questioned but never charged.

He also appeared in many English-language productions, including anthology movie “The Yellow Rolls-Royce” (1964) and Westerns “Texas Across the River” (1966), and “Red Sun” (1971), but he failed to replicate the success he enjoyed in European cinema.

Delon won a César Award, France’s equivalent of an Oscar, for best actor in 1985 for his role as an alcoholic in Bertrand Blier’s “Our Story.” He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as the passionate, penniless Tancredi in “The Leopard.”

In 1990, he starred as hitchhiker Lennox in ambitious drama “Nouvelle vague” (“New Wave”) directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

His star faded in his later years, but he reappeared on television around the turn of the century, playing veteran detectives in two miniseries: “Fabio Montale” (2002) and “Frank Riva” (2003-04).

In 2005, Delon was made an Officer in the French Legion of Honor for his contribution to world cinema.

Family feud and controversy

Delon’s last major public appearance was when he received a career-honoring Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. Women’s rights groups critized the move, citing past statements from the actor in which he admitted slapping women. A petition asking not to honor him collected more than 25,000 signatures.

He was married to actress and model Nathalie Delon from 1964 to 1969 and the couple had one child, Anthony.

Delon had three other children: a son, Christian Boulogne, with singer and actress Nico, and Anouchka Delon and Alain-Fabien Delon with Dutch actress Rosalie van Breemen.

Delon poses with his daughter Anouchka on the red carpet of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival before receiving his honorary Palme d’Or Award in May 2019. Stephane Mahe/Reuters

A polarizing figure, Delon had been criticized for his close relationship with Jean-Marie Le Pen, the figurehead of France’s far-right National Front party, with who he said he had “a 50-year friendship,” according to BFMTV.

He had also said he regretted the abolition of the death penalty, according to Reuters, and spoke out against same-sex marriage and the right for gay couples to adopt children.

As Delon’s health declined, his children became embroiled in a public dispute over their father’s health and care.

Anthony and Alain-Fabien had accused Anouchka of hiding Delon’s state of health from them and manipulating the actor, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.

This followed a court battle in 2023 in which Delon’s children filed complaints against Hiromi Rollin, a close companion of the actor who had presented herself as his partner, for violence, harrassment and abuse, including against their father, according to the French news broadcaster.

Rollin, in return, filed a complaint against Delon’s children upon being evicted from his property in Douchy in northern central France, accusing them of gang violence and theft. All the ccomplaints were dismissed, according to BFMTV.